ICF Special Interviews: Simon Kuper and Neil Malhotra

This morning, Ben, Duane and I had the chance to do two interviews. First we spoke to Simon Kuper, one of the authors of Soccernomics, a brilliant new book which is (rightly) being hailed as soccer’s answer to Moneyball. We discuss the use of detailed statistics to analyze soccer (and whether it detracts from the “magic” of footie), Canada’s place in the world’s game, why England can’t get the job done, the match-fixing investigation and much more.

We also spoke to Neil Malhotra, an Ottawa-based real estate executive, who is hoping to bring an NASL team to Ottawa in 2011. We asked whether his bid was legitimate and viable, what the stadium situation is, what his approach would be in running a team, and whether Ottawa is legitimately ready to support a soccer franchise at this level.